Wells accessing water from the Earth's aquifers are used for both drinking water and agricultural purposes across the country and indeed, the world. A typical water well is established by first drilling a hole in the ground in search of water from a water-bearing aquifer. Once water is reached by the drill, a well casing is inserted into the bore hole to preserve the sides of the well. The well casing is typically a steel or plastic pipe installed while drilling the well to prevent collapse of the well bore hole.
A vent pipe (casing vent) is typically used on virtually all wells. The primary purpose of the casing vent is to prevent undesirable vacuum formation within the well, which is caused by the drawing of air into the well. The casing vent also allows gases to escape from the wells because of the contact of the casing vent with the surrounding air. The casing vent serves as an access point to the aquifer itself, and this can be used to test and/or measure water level and quality.
It is necessary for the casing vent to have a weather head that is protective in nature. Typically this protective weather head takes on a “T” or inverted “L” shape. The weather head usually includes an open end which is typically covered by a coarse screen material, with the screen typically being secured by a plurality of clamps (e.g., hose clamps).
One significant problem associated with current casing vents is that the vent casings are easily infiltrated or penetrated by contaminants, which can take a variety of forms (nuclear, chemical, biological) and can take on any physical state, whether gas, liquid, or solid. Any contaminants entering the casing vents would potentially come into contact with the water in the aquifer. Therefore, any infiltration to the system poses a system disruption and contamination risk.
As such, it would be desirable to provide a casing vent security device that can prevent an intruder from placing contaminates into aquifer water via the casing vent. It would be desirable to provide a casing vent security device that provides the desired security without sacrificing the required airflow reaching the casing vent (that is, maintaining the airflow as it would be without the casing vent security device). It would be desirable to provide a casing vent security device that can prevent the individual person/intruder and the contaminants themselves from gaining access to and contact with the casing vent, and thus the aquifer, thus preventing the casing vent security device from being illegally penetrated (e.g., by a person) by contaminants entering the security device. It would also be desirable to provide a casing vent security device that can provide a signal to appropriate authorities when the device has been infiltrated. There is also a need for a casing vent security device that can determine the type of contaminant that has infiltrated the device and be able to provide regular updates regarding the device and its environment via a remote monitoring system. It would be desirable if the device would allow for normal operation of the water well.